Newest News

Hi everyone!

We are back from our most recent visit to the eye doctor with David. Unfortunately, the hemorrhaging in his eye has gotten much worse. This wasn't a surprise to us since that eye is visibly a different icky yellow color now instead of pretty white. It has even changed the color of the iris to a funky yellow/blue. So, we weren't shocked that conditions were worsening.

So....we have decided to remove the eye. We are doing relatively well with this emotionally. I think we felt that this would happen eventually, so we have had some time to deal. There is still grief over the whole thing, but also a strong sense of peace and calm. Life rarely lets you feel just one emotion at a time :-).

We have found out that the surgery will be out patient surgery, and it should happen in the next few weeks. There will be several weeks for the orbit to heal, but we have found out that David will most likely be fitted with a movable prosthetic!

Our biggest concern at this point is....once they have removed the eye, they will be checking surrounding tissues to make absolutely sure that the cancer has stayed contained in the eyeball. So, you can all pray that they will not find anything when they run their tests.

Also, Isaac and Hannah will have to deal with this news about their beloved baby brother. I know that it will be hard for them to deal with the news, but it will be even harder for them to deal with the ugly eye that David will have for several months while the orbit heals and before they fit him for the prosthetic. They will have strong emotions that we need to have wisdom to help them work through.

Even though we are hoping that the cancer will be gone when the eye is removed, we will still have to go through several years of continued exams, MRIs, blood work, and etc. So...it will only be the next step in this journey.

We are so grateful for your prayers and support. We love you all!

-Kim

Back to the Living

Hi Friends. I know it has been a little time since I have updated you all.

First, David has his next exam on April 10 - the Friday before Easter. I have a feeling that this exam will tell us a whole lot, so it will be an important one. I also have to say that I am not anxious about it at all. God has brought me extreme peace about which ever way this exam goes. I just hate that the little guy has to go through it all.

Secondly, we got a nice offer on our house. We moved out this weekend into the basement apartment of Rob's Grandparents' house. It is a small space, but very lovely. We are going to stay here at least until the kids finish school. This allows them to continue to go to the same school that they started the year at. Our closing on the house is scheduled to take place on Tuesday March 31. It would be great if it could happen on this day as planned. If we close on April 1 or any day after that, we will have to pay at least the interest on our loan or more....so we would love to close in March and save that money. We would love your prayers for this to happen! We have been very busy moving everything and putting things into storage and so forth. We are tired, but we are happy that everything is moved and we can get back into some sort of a routine again until the end of school.

Thirdly, we are in the search for a house in the Winston-Salem area. We are trying to find a place with a little more space than our previous house (our old place was 1289 sq ft.). We are also trying to stay within the budget that we have set for ourselves. There are some very promising places, but the process can be confusing. We would also love your prayers for God to lead in the search and that all the details would flow smoothly. We will be looking at a place this afternoon that seems to have some potential, so that will be exciting!!

Our lovely Hannah had a birthday last week! She is now a very tall 7 year old! I am hoping to have a little party for her with some of her friends from school in the near future. The interesting thing is...we were living in this same apartment when Hannah was born, and now, 7 years later....we're back!! She is such a sweet girl, and we are so thankful that God gave her to us. She is doing very well in school, and is a great help to me with David. She can do a lot to take care of him which makes me much more sane.

I think that is all for now. I'll let you know how the exam goes in a few weeks.

-Kim

Good News

Hi there everyone! I just wanted to share with you that we got an offer on our house on Sunday. We signed the paperwork to get the ball rolling yesterday. There are still things that could make the deal fall through, but it was a very good offer - so we are hopeful.

If the deal goes through, we will be closing either March 31, or April 1. We are hoping for March because it would save us quite a bit of money. Please pray that the buyer will be open to this idea.

We are planning on staying here in Greensboro until the end of the school year. We want to let the kids finish their school year here at their school, and then move. This would also help us to save up a little more money for a downpayment on a house in Winston-Salem.

So, just wanted to share that with you. We still don't know when Davids' next exam will be. I'll let you know when I find out.

-Kim

The Line in the Sand

Hi Everyone,
Hope you're having a good day.
We got fairly good news today. The doctor didn't see any new growths for the second time in a row. However, there was a lot of hemorrhaging around the area that has received so many cryotherapy treatments for the last year. If this clears up, we will be in pretty good shape as long as no new growths occur (which, of course, is not a guarantee, as we have learned over the past year after David finished his chemo and growths have occurred off and on). If the hemorrhaging doesn't clear by our next appointment (in 6 wks) we will have to take the eye. The doctor does not want to risk missing tumor growth because it is being clouded by the blood where he can't see it. If we come back in 6 wks and the hemorrhaging is gone, but new growth has occurred, the eye has to come out. He said that it has taken about all the cryotherapy it can take and the bottom line is that there is still a malignant tumor in his eye that we can't mess around with.
Maybe this doesn't sound so positive as you read it…It really is for us, though. Kim and I are both at the point that we are ready to get it over with and remove the risk altogether. Of course, if things stay clear, that will be good too, but we'll have to monitor very closely, which has been fairly nerve-wracking.
David did well as always. Since there was no cryotherapy, the exam was quick and he woke up happy. He's asleep in his crib now, peaceful with a full tummy.
Thanks for all of your support during this!
Rob

Friday The 13th

That is the day of David's next exam - as long as he is well enough. He has been fighting a cough and runny nose since Christmas, so we are praying hard that he will be well enough. It isn't helping that the weather seems so moody. One day cold as ice, next day warm enough that my crocuses are blooming.

Other than the runny nose and cough, David is very happy. He spends most of the day trying to mimic my words. He's really picking up a lot! We are all doing fine. The big kids just brought home fabulous report cards yesterday! I am so proud of their hard work at school!!

I hope all of you are staying warm,

-Kim

Still Waiting

David had another exam this past Monday. The doctor didn't see anything, but there hadn't been too much time between this exam and the last one, so he may not have been able to see it yet.

We were grateful for this news. We were also grateful that David didn't have to have any cryotherapy.

We go back in one month to look again.

-Kim

Exam Results

We took David in for another eye exam on Monday. The news was so-so. There is a section of the tumor that is very stubborn, and won't die no matter what we do to it. The doctor did a whole lot of freezing on it this time - which made Dave's eye very swollen and red. This doesn't seem to bother him, though. He is only bothered when we try to put the ointment in it to keep it from getting infected.

The doctor told us that he just isn't sure that this is going to work since this section of the tumor has survived everything else we have done to it. His words were, "There are only so many more times that I can do this before we need to make a decision."

It may surprise you, but this news wasn't earth shattering to me. It was pretty much more of the same, and I have been prepared for the possibility of having to remove Dave's eye anyway. This is not a sure thing yet, but we will see. I think time is winding down before it is inevitable.

The good news was that his MRI from last week was clear. This means that the tumor is staying contained in the eye for now and not moving anywhere else. So, if it comes down to removing his eye, that should take care of it.

So, I guess it's not such bad news after all.

Thanks for praying and keeping up with us!

Have the Merriest of Christmases!!

-Kim